The gun carried around by Fiona Berriman at Ironfest 2018 in Lithgow, no longer represented it’s original form. Originally a nerf gun, the insides has been gutted, parts glued on, and with a bit of paint, it had been turned it into a steampunk spectacular. Created by David Berriman, the gun used a real scope, a printed dial from the computer, a ring from the top of a chinese sauce container, and the top part of a jelly bean test tube. A piece of plumbing pipe had also been found in the shed to be added to the new-look gun. Fiona, her dad David and mum Annette travelled from Canberra to take part in their second Ironfest. Their first had been in 2016, and while they were unable to make it last year, they were keen to come back this year. “It’s just brilliant seeing all the creativity that goes into the whole thing. It’s the best event in Australia like this right now,” David said. Story continues after podcast with steampunk extraordinaire Lachlan Macpherson. David said their costumes focused on steampunk, though they had added his hat to fit in with the Wild West theme this year. “As an older couple, except for our daughter, we went with steampunk because steampunk is ageless. You don’t look silly wearing it, like you might in some things.” He said he had put in over 40 hours of work into creating the gun.